Kendrick may be booted from rotation for Worley

Kyle Kendrick has made 27 starts on the season and largely settled in as the Phillies' No. 5 starter, but now may find himself bumped from the rotation in favor of Vance Worley.

Worley (pictured) made his major-league debut on Monday, starting the first game of a doubleheader against the Marlins. He went five innings, giving up two runs on six hits and one walk while punching out five, throwing just 76 pitches. Not bad for a 22-year-old.

"I felt like he threw five innings and he did a good job," manager Charlie Manuel told thePhiladelphia News . "He kept us right where we wanted to go. First start in the big leagues, he was fine."

It's not exactly a ringing endorsement of the youngster, but Kendrick has coughed up nine earned runs in nine innings over his last two starts and 18 over his last 20 1/3 innings comprised of four starts. That gives him a 4.89 ERA on the season in 158 1/3 innings. Striking out just 4.2 batters per nine and walking 2.4, the righty is not exactly keeping his rotation spot on lockdown.

Kendrick is slated to face the Mets on Saturday, then appear two more times down the stretch against the Nationals, which have owned Kendrick this season, tallying up at least five runs in all three of Kendrick's starts against Washington. That might be enough to tap Worley for the gig as the team scrambles to take down the Braves for the NL East Division as well as stay the course atop the wild card.

Worley, of course, would love the opportunity. "As long as I'm in the back of [Manuel's] mind," he said. "Hopefully I get another opportunity."

He'll have to wait to find out, as Manuel said he hasn't even considered the possibility yet.

Whether Kendrick or Worley, the No. 5 starter will only be needed for those three games as the schedule and current order of the rotation lines up for only needing four men in the rotation. In addition, the Phillies have their top three of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt ready to face the Braves in all six remaining games against Philly's division rivals in the final two weeks of the season.

-- Evan Brunell

For more baseball news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsmlb on Twitter or subscribe to the RSS feed .